Longing For
by 9NightOwl11
Summary: 3 years after the war Katara isn't happy about her life with Aang, so what is she supposed to do when she goes to visit firelord Zuko, and sparks start to fly. Katara has to figure out once and for all what she is really longing for.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Avatar, nor will I ever own it. Because if I owned Avatar it would have ended in Zutara and Taang... just saying.

Chapter 1: Fake Smiles, and Letters 

"Do you have to go?"

Aang looked up from his suitcase and smiled sadly at the waterbender leaning on the door frame of his bedroom. "You know I do Katara." he said, "I'm the Avatar it's my job to keep the peace."

Katara shrugged and looked down at the floor, "I know." and really she did. After all she had been the original person, along with her brother Sokka (Agni bless his meat loving heart), to travel with Aang all over the world so he could master the other three elements in order for him to be able to defeat the firelord without getting smoked...no pun intended. She had seen so many terrible things of course she knew how important keeping the peace was, and thankfully Aang _had _managed to defeat Ozai, but even three years later the peace was still shaky and required constant meetings led and mediated by, of course, the Avatar.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Aang make his way over to her, but she didn't move. He brushed a brown strand of hair that escapes her braid from her face and tucked it neatly behind her ear. Then with the gentlest of touches he tilted her chin up until her blue eyes met his cool gray ones- yes she actually had to look _up_ to be able to meet Aang's eyes now. "I'll only be gone for 2 months," he said in a soothing voice, "and if you really think about that it's only about 60 days, or eight weeks depending how you look at it... but if you want to count the hours you'll have to do a little more math. You take the twenty four and multiply it by 60, so you'll have to carry the-"

"Please dear La stop," Katara groaned eliciting a cheeky grin from the airbender, "You know I hate math Aang."

As the grin faded from his face Aang slowly drew Katara's face closer and closer. _This is it, _Katara thought, and as their lips met in a sweet kiss Katara felt...

Nothing.

No spark, no fireworks, not even the tiniest hint of passion. Nada, zip, zero, zilch.

Katara didn't know when exactly her feelings for Aang began to dwindle, but she had managed to narrow it down to sometime between their trip together to the newly rebuilt south pole, to visit her family, and now. The love she had felt for Aang after Sozin's Comet had disappeared. Okay, it didn't _disappear ,_ she still loved Aang, but more as a friend or a little brother.

She let out a groan of disappointment which thankfully Aang interpreted as satisfaction since he began to pull away a self appeased smile on his face. He ran his fingers down Katara's arm in a loving manner that was supposed to make Katara feel tingly, that to say the least didn't work, until he was grasping Katara's hand in his own. "On second thought if you give me another kiss like that I just might have to cancel the meeting." Aang said with a playful wink.

Katara gave her best fake giggle and coy smile, "Well you better leave now before I'm overly tempted." Aang leaned in to place a kiss on her lips again, but, thankfully, due to Katara's quick reflexes she managed to divert it to her cheek.

She placed a hand on Aang's chest and pushed him back wagging her finger as if scolding a polar dog puppy. "There will be none of that. Appa is saddled and waiting along with Momo, and if we keep going like this you're going to be late. Now, how would it look if the Avatar was late for his own meeting?" She asked.

Aang just rolled his eyes and reluctantly released his grasp on Katara, missing the look of relief on her face. "I hope you know I hate it when your right." He grumbled. With a thrust of his hand a section of earth popped up, and sent the pack flying straight into Aang's grip.

"Show off."

"You know you love it." He said jokingly.

_You wish,_ Katara thought as Aang once again took her hand, "Come on you can walk me out."

Hand and hand they made their way through the halls of the Western Air temple, both lost in thought, and the only sound being the echoing of their own footsteps. Katara remembered a time when the temple was filled with the chatter and laughter of the gaAng, but at the end of the war everyone went their separate ways. Suki and Sokka moved back to the South Pole last year where they got married, and were now expecting their first child. Haru, Teo, and the Duke all moved to the newly established Republic City in search of jobs- Katara hadn't heard from them in the last two months. Toph was traveling all over the four nations trying to "find herself" as Iroh put it. Iroh, of course, was happily running his tea shop, The Jasmine Dragon, in Ba Sing Se. Finally that left the newly coronated firelord, Zuko.

Thinking of Zuko caused a wave of sadness to crash of over Katara along with just a hint of guilt. After getting over her severe distrust of him Katara had gotten incredibly close to Zuko. In, fact besides Toph and occasionally Suki she felt like he was the only one she could really talk too, but in the past year or so between his duties as firelord and all the time she spent managing Aang's busy schedule they had drifted apart.

Katara let out a sigh of longing, earning her a strange look from Aang, what she would give for the good ole days when she always knew what was going on in the lives of the people she cared about, and she knew for a fact that she had feeling for Aang. She longed for a simpler time.

Aang cleared his throat, "So what do you plan to do while I'm gone?"

The waterbender shrugged her shoulders. "I don't really know. I'll probably just stay around here, they're are some things that need to be fixed that I've been meaning to get done for a while now. Or I might head down to the South Pole for a week or so."

"Why the South Pole we were just there?" Aang asked.

"Because they're my family," Katara said a bit indignantly, "and I miss them. Plus Suki _is _carrying my future niece or nephew, and I would like to go down there to see how she's doing."

" Sorry, I was just wondering!" Aang said, taking note of Katara's defensive tone.

Katara massaged one of her temples with her free hand. "I didn't mean to snap at you Aang. I just haven't been getting much sleep lately." This was true. It was amazing how heavy lying to Aang could make her conscience.

"Then you should get out of here! Go on vacation!" Aang said happily, now that the tension had passed, "Go see Iroh in Ba Sing Se! I'm sure he misses you. Just go somewhere you'll have fun. You of _all_ people deserve a break."

Katara scoffed at his idea, rolling her blue eyes, she said, "A vacation? I don't have time for that. Like I said I have a lot I need to do here."

"It was just a suggestion." Before they could get into another scuffle they came out into the pasture where Appa was waiting for Aang.

Appa let out a bellow of greeting, which was soon followed by the four other sky bison who were sharing the pasture. After he and Katara returned to the Western Air Temple, Aang had made it his mission to find a way to bring the sky bison breed back, and upon discovering another female sky bison, in the Southern Air Temple, he had managed to bring several new sky bison into the world.

Appa began lumbering his way over to Aang, an excited Momo flying right behind him. The airbender released Katara's hand and pulled her into a hug instead.

"I'm gonna miss you Katara. Everyday." He whispered in her ear causing her heart to sink.

"I'll miss you too Aang." She lied.

Aang pulled back and placed a chaste kiss on the lips of his girlfriend. "The time will pass faster than you think. I'll see you soon sweetheart." With one last short kiss his flew onto the back of Appa.

The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them, "Aang wait!"

"What is it Katara?" He Aang asked from Appa's back in confusion.

This was it. This was when Katara was supposed to tell him the truth. This was where she was supposed to tell him her feelings had changed, and not to expect her to be here when he got back. Then she was supposed to to go back inside pack her things and head back home to start her life over.

That was what she was _supposed _to do, but as she looked into Aang's big gray eyes-innocent even after all he's been through- she saw that little twelve year old boy who she had just pulled out of the iceberg and had sworn to protect.

She couldn't do it. She forced a smile onto her face, "I hope you have a time, fly safely."

"I will, I promise." Aang said, "Oh and remember what I said about the vacation!" He took the reins in his hand, "Appa, yip yip!" And with one final wave he was gone. Flying through the air finally leaving Katara alone.

The smile slid from her face and in that moment she looked much older than her eighteen years. Katara looked around her once more at the familiarity of the Western Air temple, and suddenly found herself sick of it all. Making a decision right then she decided to take Aang's advice, and go on a vacation for herself, but not to any of the places he'd suggested.

She was going to the Fire Nation.

Author's Note 

Thanks for sticking with me through this chapter and I hope you enjoyed it! This is my first fanfic so constructive criticism is appreciated and please no flames. Save that for the forums. Review and thanks again for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **The only way I could own Avatar is if I bought it, and since my wallet contains about $5 and dust it's still Mike and Brian's.

Chapter 2: Paperwork and Hasty Preparations 

Deep within the private offices of the of the palace, the Firelord sat secluded. The only noise being the occasional breeze carrying the sweltering air through the window, and the constant scratching of the pen on paper echoing on the tall stone walls. It was enough to drive even the most mentally balanced person insane, but there Zuko sat, barely noticing it, as he continued trying to rework a contract with a metal making company from the Earth Kingdom.

"Firelord Zuko a letter has arrived for you from the Western Air Temple." At the sound of one of his servant's voices his head snapped up from the document he had been working on, causing an intensely painful neck cramp. _The biggest downside to being firelord...the paperwork,_ Zuko thought as he rubbed the back of his neck in an attempt to soothe it.

"Another letter from Aang?" Zuko questioned his black eyebrows knitting in concern, "Shouldn't he already be at the conference in Republic City by now?" There was no point in checking his calender since it buried beneath a substantial pile of documents. Besides, the servants knew more about what was going on than he did anyway.

"No sir, it's not from Avatar Aang," The servant said shifting nervously beneath his thick fire nation robes, "It's from Lady Katara of the Southern Water Tribe."

Zuko's heart gave a lurch at the servants words. He hadn't heard from Katara in forever, he wondered what was going on. "Thank you," he searched his mind for the name of his servant, "Hiu if you'd set it on the table over there that would be great," Zuko said gesturing to on of the few clear surfaces in his office, "I'll get to it in a moment."

"As you wish your highness." Hiu said with a respectful bow. Zuko watched as he placed the envelope gingerly on the table, and made a quick exit through the large mahogany doors.

Zuko turned away and tried to continue to make a dent in the mass amount of paperwork, but somehow his eyes always seemed to end up on the table with Katara's letter. Even when he did manage to keep his gaze on the contract for more than ten minutes thoughts of what the letter was about would keep him from actually being able to concentrate. Finally, after about an hour of failed attempts to work, he pushed up from his desk- wincing at the soreness in his muscles from sitting all day- and made his way over to the table, taking the offending letter into his hands.

_I wonder what's going on in Katara's life that's so exciting she can take a moment of her time to write me. _Zuko was immediately overcome with a wave of guilt at his bitter thought. The young firebender knew Katara wasn't the only one to blame for the silence between the two. In fact, if it had to be anyone's fault it was probably his. He had been so busy trying to stay on top of things in the Fire Nation that he had let a lot of his personal relationships fizzle out...and his very public break up with his long-time girlfriend Mai didn't exactly make him very pleasant to talk to.

Zuko pushed the image of Mai out of his head. She was his past and he was completely over her. He needed to focus on the present, and currently his present consisted of Katara's letter. He gingerly tore into the envelope, careful not to damage the content, and he was surprised to find that Katara's feminine script took up less than a page. Katara was notorious for her incredibly long letters, the longest one she'd ever sent him had been a little over twelve pages long. Whatever it was that was going on must not be to incredibly serious if she could make her letter this short.

_Dear Zuko, _

_ I know it's been a long time since we've last talked, and I'm very sorry about that. I can honestly say it's my fault. Things have just been so hectic lately, with the building of the Republic City and all, that I've barely had time to breathe let alone write a letter (Yes I do know how long my normal ones are, and I can tell you're smirking right now). But I didn't write to apologize (can you imagine how long _that _letter would be), I actually wrote to tell you that since Aang is going to some conference _

_I've decided to treat myself to a mini vacation in the Fire Nation! I know this is really last minute, but I figured that at this point you've been locked away in your office for way to long, and have lost the few social skills Iroh managed to drill into your skull, so you actually _need _me to turn you back into a functioning human. _

_Plus...I've missed you Zuko. I feel bad about how things are now, so I'm on my way now. I understand if you'd prefer I not stay there. If that's the case I'll stay with my friend Xana, but if I can stay with you I'll be there in three days...I just hope this letter gets to you before I do! _

_ Love, _

_ Katara _

Zuko sunk down into one of the two soft arm chairs in front of his desk as he let Katara's words sink in. Katara was coming to visit, and she would be here tomorrow. Katara. Was coming. To stay with him for two months. She'd be here. Tomorrow.

Zuko was on his feet and out the door in less than a second.

If Katara was going to be here there was so much to do! He didn't care what she said about being able to stay with another friend. If Katara was in his nation she wouldn't stay anywhere but the palace. He wouldn't have it! As he made his way down the hallways calling for all servants and guards to report to the server's meeting room-ignoring the startled looks he was receiving- he tried not to think of his motives for wanting to make the palace perfect for his waterbending friend. He also tried not to think about why exactly his heart was pounding so rapidly and the reason why there were butterflies in his stomach.

Making his way through the maze that was the fire palace he finally entered the immense room used for meetings with his staff. Upon entering, the room instantly fell quiet, and as he walked through the crowd it parted like he was a peoplebender. Positioning himself on the small, slightly raised platform at the front of the room he waited for the last couple of late comers to scurry in, and as he did he eyed the nervous crowd. They were hardly ever in a meeting with the firelord himself, and if they were it was never in this large of a group. _They look like a nervous herd of _ _koala-sheep, _Zuko though fighting off a smirk.

Once the last person had come in, closing the door behind him, Zuko began to speak. "Good afternoon everyone, I'm glad you all could make it here in such a timely manner. Now, I know you all are probably wondering why you've been called to this meeting correct?" Zuko notice the almost imperceptible nods of a few heads, "Well, you'll be happy to know that no one is in trouble," He heard the audible sigh of relief and smiled, but quickly covered it with a scowl, "but I'm going to go ahead an guarantee one thing. Everyone in this palace is about to be working their fingers off, because Master Katara of the Southern Water Tribe is on her way here right now." The excited chatter started making him have to pause momentarily.

Katara had been here several times, and had become a favorite among the servants. Zuko held up his hand and the room instantly went quiet once again. "But there is a catch, it turns out she'll be here tomorrow at this time, so I expect anyone who can to stay past your usual work hours, you will of course be paid for your extra time. Now anyone who who can stay I would like to report to Mishu, to receive their duties." Zuko said gesturing to the gray haired, head butler by his side, "And to those of you who can't stay I understand and you will not be punished for your lack of participation. Now let's make this palace shine."

**Author's Note **

Thank you to everyone who reviewed and added this story to you favorite's list! That means so much to me! Thanks for reading, and I just want to tell you not to expect a new upload everyday, you just got lucky today! Thanks a gain for reading and please review.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: ** Avatar is not mine.

Chapter 3: The Singer, The Giggler, The Screamer, and the Benefits of Flying 

Surrounded by her fellow travelers, Katara stood in the cold, dark corridor of the passenger ship, and as she waited for the ship to finish docking she clung desperately to the last bits of sanity she had left. Now, Katara had plenty of practice being patient- after all she did have _Sokka _as a brother, and she _had _been the one to train Aang in waterbending (although that about did her in)- but the past forty-eight hours had been an absolute nightmare, and she was about to lose it.

Surprisingly enough, considering the state her trip was in now, the journey hadn't started out horribly, in fact everything went exactly according to plan...for the first twenty-four hours of it at least. She had managed to pack her things, saddle Nola- one of the other sky bison-, send off a letter to Zuko with the messenger hawk he'd given her for her seventeenth birthday, look up the when the next ship to the Fire Nation capitol set sail from the nearest port near her, and get on her way in less than two hours. Katara even managed to be the one of the first of the passengers to arrive at the docks which meant she would get her first pick of the beds in the assigned rooms. Things were going perfectly..._too_ perfectly, she should have known that it wasn't going to last. The trouble started when her fellow roommates arrived.

It was trio of girls, about Katara's age, from the Earth Kingdom who were traveling around the world for one last hurrah before their parents arranged their marriages, and made them settle down. Their names were Jin, Lei, and Ami, they all had the same brown hair and light skin common to the Earth Kingdom. Clothed in simple green dresses, there was nothing about them that hinted about what terrors they would really be.

The first day was fine, they were all very pleasant girls- albeit a bit childish at times- it was when bedtime rolled around that the problems began. When Katara first lay down she didn't expect the girls to stop talking (she'd had sleepovers before, and knew _that_ was completely unrealistic), but she did expected them to lower their decibel to that of Toph's snoring. To say the least that didn't happen. If anything the girls' incessant chatter got louder, punctuated regularly by the laughter- if you could call it that, it sounded more like a dying pig rooster to Katara- of Jin. The waterbender tried to grin and bare it, but eventually she lost her patience telling them that they had to be quieter or go to sleep. Which then provoked an argument between Ami and Lei about who was being louder before they finally just went to bed.

Katara, glad that the room was finally in silence, quickly drifted off into a dreamless slumber, but some hours later was awoken by screaming. Now, after traipsing after Aang, and having to constantly fend off Fire Nation crazies who were trying to get their hands on the Avatar, Katara had trained herself to immediately awake prepared for a fight. Katara sprung out of bed water whip already poised to snap, only to realize that the screaming was coming from a soundly sleeping Lei. Turns out, as Katara was later informed, that Lei suffers from some disease where whenever she entered a new dream she would scream for five minutes straight, and there was nothing to be done about it, but not even Lei's screaming could compare to Ami's annoying habit.

Because not only did Ami snore like a sky bison with a head cold, she also sang_...all the time. _When she was bored she sang, when she was nervous she sang, when she was getting ready in the morning she sang, and she even sang when trying to go to sleep. The worst part wasn't the fact that she sang all the time, oh no, it was the fact that Ami thought she sounded marvelous when in reality she couldn't carry a tune. So in the end between the screaming, the giggling, the snoring, and the singing Katara got maybe eight hours of sleep all put together, so you can understand why she was more than a little irritated.

Turns out Aang was right there _were_ some benefits to flying.

She shifted her bag to her other shoulder, and tried to place her weight on only one foot in an attempt to soothe the aching in her feet that came from standing on the hard floor for such a long time. This proved not to be the best of ideas since at that moment the boat dropped its hatch; opening the door and causing the eager crowd to surge forward almost knocking Katara to the ground on the process. After much elbowing and many mumbled curses Katara finally managed to exit the interior of the boat, and onto the unloading ramp.

The sweltering heat of the Fire Nation immediately began warming her skin as the sudden sunlight blinded Katara. Closing her eyes in an attempt to help them adjust she let the smells and sounds of the foreign nation assault her senses. From the city all around her the sound of venders calling out their deals mixed with the delighted squeals of children just getting out from school, and the constant sound of ship horns. Despite her upbringing in the small Southern Water Tribe these sounds were familiar to

Katara due to the amount of time she spent in large Earth Kingdom cities, it was the smells that were really foreign to her. Because the air just smelled...spicy. She knew this was a peculiar way to describe it, and anyone who had never been to the Fire Nation would think she was weird for calling a smell spicy, but it was true. In the Fire Nation it wasn't real food unless it was hot, hot, _hot_- a lesson she's learned the hard way after letting Zuko cook dinner after he joined the gaAng- and somehow the spiciness of the food , and the fiery temperaments of the citizens seemed to transfer to the smell.

Once she felt she was accustomed to the bright sunlight reflecting off of the red tin rooftops Katara opened her eyes and began scanning the crowd. All around her, passengers were being reunited with friends and families which was accompanied by lots of hugs and happy inquiries about their returned loved one's travels, and for the first time since she came up with this crazy plan to come stay with Zuko she began to panic. _What if Zuko didn't get my letter, _Katara thought worriedly, _or worse what if he got it and he didn't want me around!_ Katara chewed on her lower lip as she continued to scan the crowd desperately, her doubt rising with every passing second because in all honesty she couldn't blame Zuko one bit if this was to short of notice for him to have her stay with him. Plus, she did lie to him by saying she could stay with her friend Xana. Well, she didn't _lie _exactly more like stretched the truth. Katara was sure Xana wouldn't mind having her, but her friend was a newly wed and the guardian of her three younger siblings, and no matter how profusely Xana denied it Katara knew she was a burden to her friend.

Katara admitted she should have told Zuko the truth about his home being the only place for her to stay once she got to the Fire Nation, but she didn't honestly expect the firebender to just leaveher stranded!

Sighing Katara shouldered her bag, and made her way down the ramp leading to the dock below, and as she thought about all the hotels she could stay at, out of the corner of her eye she saw a middle aged Fire Palace servant standing by a carriage, hooked to two ostrich horses, holding a sign. After a closer inspection of the sign a wide grin made its way onto Katara's tan face, because on that sign in eloquent script was her name.

Making her way over to the carriage Katara let out a sigh of relief, and laughed at herself. How could she have been so _silly_? Of course, Zuko wouldn't leave her. He was her friend, one of her _best _friends! He would be at the palace ready to welcome her with open arms.

The servant upon seeing Katara heading his way- sticking out like a sore thumb in her deep blue robes- straightened up, and extended the customary bow. "You must be Lady Katara." He said in a voice that was all business, "I am Jou, and I will be your carriage driver today, allow me to take your bag."

"Why thank you Jou," Katara said slightly flustered with the special treatment, "It's a pleasure to meet you, and please just Katara is fine."

To the waterbender's immense surprise Jou smiled, making him look at least ten years younger, but enhancing the laugh lines around at the same time. "The pleasure is all mine I assure you Katara. The tales of your beauty have not been exaggerated, now your carriage awaits."

Blushing and flustered because of Jou's comment Katara was easily maneuvered into the carriage where she sank into the soft black leather of the seats. Running her fingers along the the smooth glass of the window Katara let out a sigh of contentment. _Lucky Zuko gets to do this everyday. _

After fighting its way through the hubbub of the city, the carriage pulled through the main gates of the Fire Palace, and as Katara pressed her face against the glass to get a good look at it she was once again struck by the grandeur of it.

The roof was sloping and was painted an intense shade of red. Intricate, gold columns held up the overhang of the roof. The outside walls were some kind of white stone- that Katara thought to be ivory-, on the walls were large sets of windows, and positioned perfectly in the center was a set of large black doors, but the crazy thing was the part of the palace you saw when you pulled up wasn't even half of it, and the rest was equally (if not more) splendid.

Finally rolling to a stop in front of the ornate black doors one of the many palace attendants rushed forward to open her door followed closely behind by two more. One to retrieve her bag and take it to her room, and the other to assist her from the carriage-which Katara found quite ridiculous since if she could take on an army of Fire Nation soldiers with just a canteen of water _surely _she could manage to exit a carriage by herself.

"Welcome to the Fire Palace Miss Katara, its a pleasure to be able to have you as a guest here with us," said the attendant, a short dark haired man, who assisted her from the carriage, "Is there anything you currently need?"

"All I need right now is to see Firelord Zuko." Katara replied.

The attendant let out a hearty laugh, "Well that can be arranged! He is just inside the doors waiting for your arrival, but you better hurry. You know how he gets when he has to wait for something he really wants." With a wink he turned his back on a slightly confused Katara, who, after a brief hesitation, decided against questioning the attendant, and instead bounded up the steps toward the door. The attendants each took a hold of the door handle, and pulled the doors open with a flourish.

The doors closed behind her as Katara stepped inside, and froze allowing her eyes a moment to adjust to the sudden light change. When she could finally see, Katara looked around the exquisite entrance hall until her eyes landed on a figure leaning (in a very unfirelordly way) against the wall opposite her.

His pitch black hair was pulled back into the typical Firelord bun, held in place by his crown. He was dressed in the many layered, flowing, crimson robes of every Fire Nation ruler before him. His face had lost any of the last remaining roundness that made the distinction between a boy and a man, and was now chiseled to perfection.

Only three things remained the same that allowed Katara to recognize the man in front of her. First, and most obviously, his scar, but she'd long ago stopped really noticing the burn. It had become as much a part of him as any personality trait could. Secondly, his gold eyes that were boring in Katara's own. Lastly, his full fledged smile that was saved for special occasions only. It lit up his whole face, and frankly took Katara's breath away.

"Katara," He whispered, his voice deep and smooth as silk.

Next thing Katara knew she was in his arms.

**Author's Note: **

Yay! Chapter three is finally up now! I hope you readers are happy now since they're finally together. Thank you to everyone who has favorited , and review Longing For I'm getting a much bigger response than I ever thought I'd get, and I can't thank you guys enough. Now for the sad part. School is coming to an end which means things are getting pretty crazy, so for the next couple of weeks I'm going to try my hardest to get up one chapter a week, but that's really the most I can do. Just look on the bright side though, after school is over I can get more writing done faster!

Thanks again for reading I hope you enjoyed it! Reviews are always appreciated (they help me write faster just FYI).


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: **Still not mine.

Chapter 4: The Firelord's Unpossessed Virtue 

Patience had never been a virtue Zuko possessed.

As a child his mother and Uncle Iroh were the only ones who tried to instill that virtue into his character, but, being royalty, he never had to wait or work in order to get what he wanted. Everything was simply handed to him on a silver platter because everyone seemed to think that the way to get close to the firelord was through the heir, so by the time he'd turned eight Zuko had a fuse short enough to rival his father's, and his family knew their attempts were wasted. Thankfully, over time Zuko managed to find constructive ways to deal with his severe lack of patience, so it only became an issue on rare occasions.

This was one of those occasions.

For the past hour Zuko had been pacing. Walking the 32 steps (yes, he counted) required to get from one side of his office to the other and back enough times to wear a path in the carpet, but, in all honesty, he had a fairly good reason for his impatience. The staff and himself had spent nearly eighteen hours total preparing for Katara's arrival, and after sending a carriage, pulled by his fastest ostrich-horses, to retrieve his friend from the docks almost two hours ago Katara still wasn't here.

Zuko made it across the room again wearing his path even deeper into the lush carpet.

He checked the clock.

3:36. Now it had been exactly two hours since he sent out the carriage, he was now officially in worried, freak out mode.

All the horrible scenarios of what could be causing the delay started running through his mind. _What if the boat sank? _Zuko thought, then quickly pushed that worry aside. He was firelord, if a ship had gone down on the way to the Fire Nation he would have been the first to know...well, besides the passengers. Also, Katara was a master waterbender, if her ship had gone down she was more than capable of taking care of herself. _What if the carriage had broke down and never even made it to the docks? What if Katara had fallen deathly ill, and instead of bringing her to the palace she had to be rushed to a medic? What if Katara had been kidnapped by a crazy citizen? What if the carriage didn't make it to the docks in time to pick Katara up, and now she was wandering hopelessly lost through the streets? Or worse... _Zuko's pacing and frenzied thoughts came to and abrupt halt, _what if Katara decided not to stay with him after all? _

His heart dropped at the thought, and a sudden sense of loss overwhelmed him before he continued his pacing scoffing at himself. The thought was completely ludicrous. Katara would never just change her mind without at least letting him know first. She was too honorable for that. But then again...

Zuko stopped mid-step. People _do _change, and it had been a while since him and Katara had really talked, maybe she wasn't like he remembered her. He took a moment to consider this before shaking his head, and picking up his pacing where he'd left off. It was true people did change- he was proof of that-, but if he knew one thing about Katara it was this. If she said she was going to do something she did it.

With that nonsensical worry out of the way the young firebender was free to come up with even more insane, dimwitted theories about where Katara could possibly be. Zuko had finally worked himself into such a tizzy that he was contemplating sending a whole fleet of the royal palace guards after them, when Hiu entered the office.

It was all the poor servant could do to hide his amusement at his master's frazzled appearance as he delivered his message, "Firelord Zuko." He said trying, in vain, to catch the firelord's attention, so he tried again. "Firelord Zuko." Nothing, Zuko was still pacing back and forth mumbling about kidnappings under his breath. "FIRELORD ZUKO!"

Zuko tripped over his own robes as he came to a halt. Startled he looked up to find Hiu standing just within his office door. "What is it Hiu?"

Hiu stood a little straighter, "I was told to inform you that the carriage which you sent out to retrieve Lady Katara has just entered through the main gate, and should be arriving at the entrance hall within 7 minutes."

Hiu had barely gotten the words out of his mouth before Zuko barreled past him, tripping over his own feet as he tried to run in his inhibiting firelord robes. The entrance hall was roughly five minutes from the firelord's office...Zuko made it there in one. He bent over his knees panting from the sudden exertion. _Note to self, _Zuko thought when he'd finally caught his breath, _take a break from all the paperwork, and get back in shape. _

Straightening back up to his full height, he managed to collect himself, but when voices from outside reached his ears he started panicking again. As quickly as possible he started going through his physical preparation checklist.

Pits? He sniffed. Check. Crown? He reached up and adjusted it till it sat perfectly straight on his head. Check. Breath? Zuko breathed into his hand and sniffed, suddenly wishing he hadn't had that garlic and basil firefish sandwich for lunch. He dug through the deep, hidden pockets of his robes until he produced a mint leaf which he quickly popped into his mouth. Breath, check. Casual pose that screams confidence? The golden eyed man leaned casually against the nearest wall trying to look as cool as possible. Check.

Thankfully, before he could become an even bigger bundle of nerves than he already was, the doors opened. The light was nearly blinding as Zuko squinted into it, and as his eyes slowly adjusted all he could see was a woman's silhouette with light surrounding her. The contrast of light with dark made her look like an angel returning from the Spirit World. The doors closed almost as quickly as they opened, and Zuko laid his eyes on Katara for the first time in over a year.

He inhaled sharply as his heart did a funny little dance in his chest.

Now Katara had always been a pretty girl. Even while he was trying to capture the Avatar, it had been one of the first things he'd noticed about her. But over the years as Katara changed from a teenager to a woman the word "pretty" just didn't seem to cut it anymore. Zuko remembered that whenever the subject of Katara would come up between his uncle and himself, Iroh would always refer to the young lady as "incandescent", then with a wink he'd offer Zuko more tea before the young firebender could question him further. Zuko never really understood what his uncle meant about a person being incandescent...he didn't think it was possible. But at that moment, as his eyes traveled over Katara he could think of no other word to describe her.

Her hair loopies and ever present braid were gone, replaced, instead by a long wavy ponytail that fell over her shoulder, and the hair that would normally be contained in the loopies was curly, framing her face. She wore a dress that was such a deep shade of blue it could almost be considered violet- the color was wonderful on her since it drew attention to her caramel colored skin. The dress came down just past her knees and was off the shoulder- a style that was quickly becoming popular among the women of the Fire Nation, and one that Zuko had never really appreciated until now-, but the factor about the dress that _really _caught Zuko's attention was the leather belt that was positioned strategically at her waist. It drew attention to how trim the waterbender was, and caused the dress to cling slightly to her upper legs before flowing back out, showing off enough to peak someone's interest, but at the same time leaving _plenty _to the imagination.

His uncle was definitely right. Katara _was _incandescent.

Beautiful blue eyes the color of the ocean met his own gold ones, and he felt a smile slowly creep onto his face as he saw the obvious joy light up Katara's features.

"Katara." Zuko said in a voice barely above a whisper, as he relished the way the syllables rolled off his tongue.

Next thing he knew Katara had her face buried into his chest as his arms wrapped around her, holding her tightly to himself. The top of Katara's head just barely reached the bottom of his chin, and Zuko couldn't help, but notice how perfectly Katara seemed to fit into his arms.

"I missed you Zuko." Katara mumbled her head buried in his chest.

Zuko chuckled, and hugged her tighter, "I missed you too Katara." _You have no idea how much._

Zuko didn't know how long they stood there embracing, but all to soon for his taste she started to pull away from him, and he had to let her go. After all, she was the Avatar's girl.

As she stepped back their eyes met again, and once more he had to catch his breath. _You can't think about her that way,_ He scolded himself, _you're her best friend. _They stood in silence just staring at each other. Zuko, thanks to his guilty conscience, was the first to look away. There was so much he wanted to say. So much he wanted to apologize for, but he didn't know how.

"Zuko?"

His head snapped back up his eyes meeting Katara's once again. She smiled at him, and Zuko knew that no words were needed...she understood, like she always did.

Katara tucked a piece of dark brown hair behind her ear, and, with a twinkle in her big blue eyes, grinned. "So, are we just gonna stand here and stare at each other? Because if that's the case I might as well head back to the boat!" Katara said teasingly.

Zuko fought back a smile, and put on his most serious face, "I don't know, after what happened last time you were here the staff might just insist on making you sleep out in the gardens."

The smile fell off of the waterbender's face as she mock glared at him, "That was a accident, and you know it! If anyone should be getting blamed here it should be you! You were the one to throw the peas first."

"Oh really? That's not how _I _remember it!"

Katara scoffed, "Well _I _think you've taken too many of Toph's dirt balls to the head. You definitely started it."

Zuko didn't even bother hiding his smile anymore, "Now that you mention it," He said tapping his chin as if in deep thought, "I do recall my spoon..._slipping._" One of her eyebrows rose as she glared at him. Zuko just smiled bigger, and wrapped an arm around Katara's shoulders, "Come on, I better take you to your corner of the gardens. I even had the staff set up a nice little hut for you to keep you dry when it rains."

Katara rolled her eyes as she attempted to fake annoyance, but Zuko could see the corner of her mouth quirk up. "Next thing you know you'll be throwing the table scraps into my dish, and making me wear a collar."

The golden eyed man frowned, and knit his black eyebrows together. "The collar was supposed to be a a surprise for tonight! How did you know?"

**Author's Note: **

Haha! Okay I know that Zuko was OOC in this chapter, but I always see him as being a little bit of an internal spaz. Maybe it's just me...oh well! And as for the collar...I thought someone out there might appreciate it ;). Thanks for reading, reviewing, and favoriting! It means so much to me! Keep the reviews coming, and I'll keep the chapters flowing! Questions and constructive criticism are always welcome!


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: **Firebender's are red, waterbender's are blue. I do not own Avatar, and neither do you.

Chapter 5: I'll Let You Know When I Figure It Out! 

As they sat in the shade, beneath a tree in the Royal Gardens, Katara watched Zuko carefully tear a small chunk of bread off of the loaf she had managed to swipe from the kitchen, and toss it into the turtleduck pond. One of the little creatures saw it land in the water, and swam lazily over to the- now soggy- chunk, quickly gobbling it up. Zuko tore off another piece and tossed it in. Katara noticed that a hint of a smile graced his face as the other turtleducks realized that the bothersome humans were actually there to _feed _them, and made their way over to the edge of the pond, quacking incessantly. Obviously complaining about the unjust actions of the Firelord. How dare he give more than one piece of bread to a single turtleduck when there were more of the poor, "starving" creatures! The horror!

Katara only spared the adorable creatures a brief glance before turning to study the man sitting next to her once more.

She had been at the palace for a few days now, and she and Zuko had quickly fallen into a routine. He would rise with the sun, go through his training regime, shower, and then spend the rest of the morning in various meetings before heading to his office to do whatever it was firelords did in that mysterious room for the next few hours. Katara would finally roll out of bed about 10:00, get dressed, and make her way to the kitchens, where she would grab a muffin, and sit and chat with the kitchen staff for a bit. The cook was a woman- the first woman cook employed at the Fire Palace, she would proudly boast- named Hema. Hema was a large gray haired lady that stood at about 5'11, and had an ample girth from all her years of cooking ("If a cook can resist trying their own dish it's time to find a new cook" had been one of the first declarations she's mad to the waterbender). With her booming voice and stern face Hema was quite an imposing figure, but for some reason she had taken a liking to Katara. Although in all honesty it wasn't that surprising, Katara just had a way about her that made people swarm to her.

After leaving her friends in the kitchen she would spend the rest of the morning wandering the halls of the palace. The place was massive. Katara could easily spend the entire two months of her trip just wandering about the Fire Palace and still not see it all, but somehow she always managed to make her way back to the hall containing the portraits of all the past Firelords and their families. The strange thing was she had never actually _meant _to end up there. One day she had gotten turned around on the way to her room, and stumbled across it, but ever since it had become her favorite haunt, besides the gardens of course. There was just something fascinating about studying the faces of the generations that had come before Zuko, she'd even become so interested in a few of the portraits that she went to read about them in the palace library. This, of course, was not something she would ever admit to. In fact, she went out of her way to make sure she was never caught studying the faces of Firelords past.

After leaving her secret place she would meet up with Zuko in the dining room at noon sharp, where they would eat lunch together, sometimes chattering away (well _Katara _was chattering at least) and sometimes sitting in a companionable silence; the latter, Katara noted, seemed preferable to the Firelord. When they had eaten enough to satisfy Hema, the pair would exit, and despite the fact that Zuko always claimed he was going to show her around the palace they always ended up sitting by the turtleduck pond in the Royal Gardens surrounded by the beautiful fire lilies. Once there they would feed the turtleducks until they ran out of bread, and then they would just sit in talk. They talked about everything, but nothing of real importance. Both had been forced to grow up fast and take on responsibilities that should belong to their elders, so just doing nothing together was a nice change of pace for both of them.

As Katara continued to study her friend she couldn't help but notice similarities between him and his ancestors. His angular face, and chiseled jawline, for example, came from his great, great grandfather Firelord Zhu. His hair, the rich black of a raven's feathers, had been passed down from almost every generation that Katara had seen, she supposed it was a Fire Nation thing. And lastly his eyes. As much as she hated to admit it, Zuko eyes were the exact same golden color as his father's.

Feeling the weight of her gaze, Zuko turned and his golden eyes met Katara's own. He raised one of his black eyebrows in curiosity. "What?"

Katara felt the blush rise to her face, and looked away quickly, towards the turtleduck pond. "What do you mean 'What?'" She said as calmly and innocent as possible, while on the inside she was reeling, and trying to make sense of the fluttery feeling in her stomach.

"You know what, what."

"I don't believe I do, my dear Firelord, but if you'd care to inform me about what your talking about I'll see if I can help." Katara fought off a grin as she saw his eye twitch. It always annoyed him when she spoke formally.

"Okay," he said, "let me rephrase this. What were you staring at?"

She tried to resist, but it was just to perfect. "I don't know, but I'll let you know when I figure it out!"

Katara was on her feet, and running before her comment even registered in Zuko's mind, but as soon as it did he let out an indignant huff. "You're not going to get away that easily!" He called as he took of after the her.

Now Katara may have had a head start, but do to her uncontrollable case of giggles she started slowing down. Because of this -and the fact that he had _much _longer legs- Zuko quickly closed the distance between them, until he was so close Katara could feel him breathing down the back of her neck.

Just as Zuko wrapped his arms around Katara's waist, as they both laughed hysterically, his toe hit a rock, and next thing Katara knew they were falling.

**Author's Note: **

I apologize immensely for this sucky ending, and about how long it took to get this chapter up. I could go on and on about all the reasons this took forever, but I'm just going to sum it up to the fact that my teachers like to assign massive projects the last week of school.

While I'm already on a tirade I might as well keep going. Right now I am a major _Legend of Korra _fan, and I absolutely love the idea of Makkora. (Brian and Mike have to make up for lack of Zutara in A:tLA somehow right?). Well did any of you watch Saturday's episode? Did anyone else get incredibly angry? Well I did, and it was _not _pretty!

Sorry about my short, lack of sleep induced rant, I just had to say this to someone who gets it. Thanks again for all of you awesome people who reviewed and favorited! It means the world to me. Thanks for reading, and reviews are always appreciated!


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: **Je ne suis pas propre Avatar, je ne ferai jamais. J'ai simplement écrire sappy histoires d'amour pour noncanon paires.

Chapter 6: Flower For Your Thoughts? 

Zuko took off after Katara- moving as rapidly as he could in his cumbersome firelord robes- and, much to his astonishment, the waterbender had already vanished from sight among the exotic plants of the Royal Gardens. He groaned in frustration, _the gardens are massive, _he thought,_ she could be anywhere, _then he heard it. A smirk slipped onto his face, and he increased his already fast pace. Katara may have gotten a head start, but the expert tracker could easily follow the sound of her musical laughter.

Weaving his way through the paths he knew like the back of his hand Zuko made great time and soon caught sight of Katara's brown braid; swinging back and forth, taunting him. Katara peered over her blue clad shoulder, and as azure eyes met gold ones she let out a small giggle, followed by a high pitch shriek, as she tried to increase her speed, but it was a wasted effort. Zuko had caught up with his friend and slipped his arms around her trim waist. He had every intention of sweeping her off her feet, taking her back to the turtleduck pond, then dumping her in it, but, alas, it was not meant to be.

Out of nowhere, a rock jutted out of the ground, catching the toe of his shoe, and causing gravity to take effect. A panic overtook Zuko as he began to fall taking Katara down with him. Without even thinking about it he pulled the girl's small frame around and on top of his own large one in order to protect her from the impact that was coming.

All the air rushed out of his lungs as Zuko hit the ground...hard, to top this off less than half a second later Katara's body slammed into his own. The last little bit of air escaped from his lungs in a small burst.

"Oh my gosh! Zuko are you okay?" Zuko heard Katara ask, her blue eyes wide and voice filled with worry.

He opened his mouth, ready to make some suave comment to calm her down, but nothing came out, so he tried again; nothing. Turns out you need oxygen in order to talk. "Can't...breathe!" He finally managed to croak out.

Realization dawned on Katara's beautiful face, "Oh," the waterbender said as she adjusted herself, removing her elbow from his rib cage, "sorry Zuko!"

Zuko took a deep breath relishing the feeling of air rushing back into his lungs. The firebender closed his eyes and a smile crept onto his face as he let out a sigh of relief and contentment. _I love oxygen, _he thought.

"Better?" Katara asked a smile in her voice.

"Much." Zuko replied. Moments later when the oxygen finally reached his brain he realized two things.

Number one, this was the third time he's taken an injury in order to protect Katara.

Number two, they were presently in an extremely compromising position.

In order to allow the flow of air to Zuko's lungs, Katara had to adjust her arms so that they were stretched out on both sides of her. Because of this neither were supporting Katara's petite form which was currently pressing into Zuko's own. Zuko fought off a blush as he felt something stirring inside him as Katara wiggled. Her luscious figure pressed even harder into his chest. Zuko inhaled sharply, images of Katara filling his mind. _Fight it, fight it, fight it, she's one of your best friends, and she has a boyfriend you _cannot_ think about her like that!_

He hadn't even realized he'd closed his eyes and let out a grunt until a voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Zuko are you alright?" Katara asked, unmistakable confusion in her voice, "You look like your in pain."

_You have no idea._ He dug his fingers deep into the grass, trying to focus on on the feeling of the cool mud oozing between his fingers, instead of the girl on top of him. "It'd probably help if you got off of me."

Katara looked down at them as if just now realizing the position they were in. An (in Zuko's opinion, at least) adorable, bright red blush colored her cheeks. "Oh, right."

Thankfully, Katara rolled off of Zuko immediately, and he let out a quiet sigh of relief. It had been a close call, but Zuko had always had an admirable amount of restraint...okay that was a lie. He had always been a hot head, prone to blow ups and impulsive actions, but he's been working on that lately. After all, he couldn't exactly go around setting fire to the robes of annoying councilmen. Well he _could, _but it was severely frowned upon.

The pair lay side by side in an awkward silence, staring at the cloudless blue sky, neither exactly sure what to say now. A mere two inches separated Zuko's large rough hand from Katara's small dark one, and the Firelord was painfully aware of their close proximity. _Deep breath Zuko, _he told himself, _don't lose your cool. _Out of the corner of his eye he saw Katara pluck a blade of grass, and twist it around her fingers, obviously in deep thought.

How he'd love to be able to read this complicated waterbender's thoughts just for a day. It would make his life so much easier.

Slowly Zuko sat up. Plucking a beautiful Lotus flower from the patch within arm's length he turned back around and met the searing gaze of Katara. He presented the flower to her with a flourish, causing her to giggle. "Flower for your thoughts?"

Katara took the flower from his hands and stuck it in her hair, "I was just thinking about how debonair you look with grass stuck in your hair." She said with a cheeky grin, that made Zuko's heart skip a beat.

"Didn't you hear? Grassy hair is the latest trend. It's all over the Earth Kingdom right now." Zuko retorted, reaching up self consciously to brush the grass out of his messy hair.

Katara let out a melodious laugh. "That may be, but I prefer the non-itchy look myself." Zuko must have looked like he was struggling because Katara held out her hands. "Here let me help you."

Before Zuko could object Katara had taken his head in her hands, and gently pulled it down to her level. Katara ran her fingers through his thick, ebony locks, causing Zuko to shiver in pleasure, until every piece of grass had been removed.

"All done!" She chirped, giving Zuko's hair one last ruffle, before releasing him.

"Thanks Katara. I guess that nature boy look isn't for me." Zuko said running his hand through the hair that was hanging in his face.

"I wouldn't say _that_ exactly. I'm sure you would be handsome, rocking the jungle boy look, but Fire Nation Royalty just seems to work better for you."

Zuko loud out a barking laugh, while inside he was doing a happy dance. _She called me handsome. _

"Speaking of Fire Nation Royalty," Zuko started, "I just received a letter from my mother, and she sends her love, and she also said to tell you that she's delighted you're here, and to be prepared for some serious bonding time once she returns."

Katara shook her head a smile tugging at the corner of her lips. "When will she be getting back?"

"She's just got three more provinces to visit, so about four days."

"I better start working on my endurance now then. Remember what happened last time?"

Zuko laughed. How could he forget? As newly crowned Firelord he made finding his mother one of the top priorities. After several months of searching she turned up at the door of the Fire Palace luggage in tow. It turned out she had been in hiding as a widowed Earth Kingdom woman, working for a sewing company. In honor of his mother's return he had thrown a ball, so naturally the GaAng was invited. At the time Zuko had still been dating Mai, and, to say the least, Ursa was not a big fan. The problems really started for Zuko's love life when his mother met Katara at the ball. Now everyone liked Katara, but to say that Ursa liked Katara was an understatement. Ursa was crazy about her, soon enough she began to think of the waterbender as her own daughter. Now Ursa was perfectly polite to Mai, but she made it a point to talk about how _lovely _and _funny _and _beautiful _and _charming _Katara was every chance she got. This did not make Mai happy- actually Mai was never happy to begin with, this just made her slightly more displeased.

The real kicker occurred on the last day of Katara's stay at the Palace. Ursa decided to take Katara and Toph shopping. About two hours later Toph showed up lugging a couple of shopping bags, mumbling about the unstoppable force that was Zuko's mother. Everyone else figured that the other two ladies would be back soon after Toph's arrival, so they waited. And waited. And waited. Zuko had been seriously considering sending out a search party to find his mother and friend, but just as the sun was going down the pair arrived, and trailing behind them were a least five guards close to collapsing under the weight of the ladies' shopping bags. Ursa was positively glowing, chattering away about what a wonderful time they had, Katara on the other hand, that was a different story. Her hair was in a complete disarray, there were bags under her eyes, and not only were her eyes bloodshot, but they were also twitching. The image of his normally collected waterbender friend after that fateful shopping trip still caused Zuko to cackle. It was an image he was not soon to forget.

Katara glared at him. "It really wasn't that funny, you know."

Zuko wiped at the tears that were forming in his eyes as he gasped for breath. "Yes," he contradicted, "it really, really was."

"Change of subject!" Katara yelled. "What happened between you and Mai?"

In an instant Zuko was somber again all traces of humor gone from his face, "What do you mean?"

Katara sighed, exasperated. "I mean one moment you guys are engaged, and planning this big ole' wedding, and seemingly happy, and the next it's all over the papers that the engagement was called off because you guys had some big falling out. That was also the same time you stopped responding to my letters. Any information I got that I could trust came from Ursa, and she seemed to know about as much as I did. So the question is what happened?"

Zuko let out a sign and rubbed around the edges of his scar, "I really don't know what to tell you." He whispered.

"How about the truth. That always seems to work for me."

Zuko internally scoffed. The truth? There was no way he was revealing the truth about his break up with Mai to Katara. Because the truth was, Katara was the reason they broke off the engagement. Okay, maybe not the _entire _reason, but she was a pretty big part of it. After Katara left the palace Ursa not only started raving about her to Zuko, but also to Mai. About the same time Zuko and Katara's letter writing became even more intense, with at least two letters arriving each week. Soon enough Mai and Zuko began fighting. Mai was upset about Zuko writing letters to Katara. Zuko was upset with Mai for being so void of emotions all the time, and avoiding emotional intimacy with him. Mai hated Zuko's haircut ,saying it made him look "emo", and Zuko hated the fact that Mai left her hairs all over the bathroom counter. Mai wanted to paint the parlor orange, and Zuko wanted to keep it red and gold. Zuko accused Mai of stealing his fire-flakes, and Mai accused him of having feelings for Katara.

Zuko had no come back for that accusation because it was true.

Mai was out of the palace by the next night, and the saddest part was that Zuko couldn't even bring himself to be upset. And the reason he stopped writing to Katara was because he just couldn't stand hearing about her and Aang. The thought of another man's (or boy's in the Avatar's case) hands on Katara made his blood boil.

There was no way he was telling Katara any of that, but he would be as honest as he could.

"The truth? Well Katara the truth was we weren't meant for each other. We were constantly arguing about the smallest things, and soon enough all that small stuff started to add up. We were both miserable more than we were happy, so I thought it was best to end it. Mai didn't take it well. I had the welt to prove it." Zuko said rubbing the back off his head wincing at the memory of one of Mai's favorite shoes nailing him in the back of the head.

'So that's it?" Katara asked, "There were no other reasons for you break up?"

_You. _"Nope. None." Zuko saw something flash in Katara's eyes. It looked a lot like disappointment, but just as quickly as it appeared it was gone. It had to have been his imagination.

The tolling of the bell signaling that it was now seven o'clock pulled them out of their little world, hidden among the plants. Both looked at each other in a panic and were on there feet in seconds, their previous conversation momentarily forgotten.

"Hema!" They said together. They were already late for dinner! Hema was going to murder them, or at least give them a nasty case of food poisoning.

Zuko turned and faced a panicked Katara. "Last one there tells Hema why we're late!" Zuko was sprinting through the gardens as fast as his legs could carry him, the sound of melodious laughter right behind him.

**Author's Note: **

Phew! I got tired just writing that, I can't imagine having to actually be a character in my story! I'd like to apologize for this update being so late, so to make it up to you I made it longer than normal. I hope you can forgive me and continue being awesome readers and review. *Insert sad puppy dog face* Pretty, pretty please? You will? Thanks! You guys rock.

Now I'm going to do something I normally don't do, I'm going to address some of my reviews from the last chapter because I can honestly say they were some of my favorite reviews I've gotten so far. Here we go.

**JemiLover101: **I did the same thing! I got so many strange looks from my family. Thanks for being one of the continuous reviewers, I appreciate it!

**Raidersfan777: **Is this what you thought was going to happen? I seriously hope not, I don't want to be _too_ predictable. :)

**elleelle: **Don't die that'd be tragic, and I'd have one less reader!

**9tailedokami16x:** I know! It was truly sad how bad that ending was, I apologize hope this chapter makes up for it.

**Superbeaner: **They stopped! Wahoo! I can update more frequently, and did you ever notice 'lol' looks like a drowning person? Maybe it's just me...

**LilyCullen-Everdeen: **Can I just say I was laughing for like ten minutes after I read your review! I can honestly say it made me whole flippin' week! Thank you for the compliments and I love you too, but I think it would be best if we see other people. I think it might have been the song you were listening to, I wrote that chapter while watching _The Little Mermaid _with my cousin, nothing smexy about that, but who knows things might get interesting! But not too interesting, this is T-rated after all!

Thanks again to all who reviewed, read, and favorited! Keep it up.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: **The grass is green, the sky is blue. I don't own Avatar, so don't sue.

Chapter 7: Fire, Ice, and Golden Eyed Knights 

"I think I'm going to throw up." Katara groaned, leaning back in her chair.

Zuko let out a pathetic moan that rivaled Katara's, "I shouldn't have had that third jelly roll, but they were just too good!"

Katara rubbed her overextended stomach and let out a nonverbal noise of agreement.

When the duo had finally gotten to the dining room earlier that evening- Katara preparing herself to face Hema's wrath since, sadly, she had lost- they were shocked to find the chef setting out a platter containing fried dumplings. Normally, Hema would remain in the kitchen till the end of the meal, then she would come out and visit with her favorite guest for a few minutes before shooing Katara and Zuko out so she could do the dishes and, "Actually get some work done around this place", so seeing the intimidating woman before the meal did not forebode well for the pair's plea bargain. Steeling herself Katara launched into some long, rambling, drawn-out apology about why they were late, and how it would never happen again if Hema promised not to kill them or give them a severe case of food poisoning, and then something amazing happened. Hema didn't get angry and start throwing pots around like Zuko and Katara expected, in fact, she did the complete opposite! The, normally somewhat volatile, cook stated very calmly that she was not mad, she was actually _pleased_ that they were late to dinner because it gave her even _more _time to cook for them, then she simply gave Zuko a hearty slap on the back and strolled off to the kitchen.

Hema's reaction (or lack thereof) should have been enough to cause Katara's guard to go up, but, alas, years of not having to constantly fight for her life and keep people from taking advantage of her had made her go soft.

Neither of them even saw it coming.

The dinner started innocently enough. Zuko and Katara sat across from each other discussing political matters which then led to a conversation about who had the worst experience with an ambassador from another nation (Zuko told about how a female ambassador from the western Earth Kingdom had stalked him until the firebender had to call the guards after discovering her hiding out in his bed chambers. Katara, on the other hand, launched into a story about how an elderly man from the Northern Water Tribe 'accidentally' dumped his sea prunes down the front of her dress during a formal dinner, and tried to help her 'clean it up' by applying pressure to her chest...they decided to call it a draw). Thanks to their amiable chatter, before they knew it they had cleaned their plates. This was typically the point in the meal where Hema would come in through the hidden doorway connecting the dining area to the kitchen and clear away the plates, but coming through the passage, instead of the burly woman, were three servants carrying platters loaded to the brim with food. To say the least, Katara was pretty confused.

Since her first dinner in the Fire Nation Zuko made it very clear to Katara that as an inhabitant of the Fire Palace you didn't decide when you were done eating; Hema did. The chef would send food out until she felt that you had, had enough (whether it was true or not). More often than not, Hema was very good at determining how much food a person could consume, but that night it seemed her skills weren't working correctly. There was no way Katara could eat anymore, and from the look on Zuko's face Katara could tell he felt the same way.

As the servants set the platters down in front of them, Katara realized they had two options about how they could handle this situation. Option one: Zuko and Katara could simply be truthful and tell Hema that although it was delicious there was no way that they could eat all that food.

Katara quickly eliminated that idea. Being truthful would only hurt Hema's feelings and possibly anger her, so that left the duo with only one option.

They would have to eat the food.

So they ate, and ate, and ate, and ate, and here they still were two hours later both groaning in discomfort, praying that no more food would come.

"Katara?"

"Yes Zuko?"

"I wish she had given us food poisoning."

If the normally solemn firebender had made a comment like this any other time Katara would probably have laughed, but at the moment she had to agree. "Me too."

Out of the corner of her eye Katara saw Zuko start to work on the belt that held his robes in place,in an attempt to loosen it some, and she fought back a smile. Finally fixing the belt the way he wanted Zuko let out a sigh of relief, but just as the look of contentment settled on his face it disappeared, quickly replaced by sheer panic. "Katara, you don't think Hema is going to make us eat anymore do you? I don't think I can take it."

As if the universe heard Zuko and was determined to answer his question, the door, from which all the forms of torture had been coming from for the past several hours, swung open, eliciting a groan from both Katara and Zuko. _When will the torment end?_ Katara thought miserably to herself as she sat up straight in her chair once more.

"Now I know I'm not the prettiest thing in the world to look at, but there's no need to be hateful about it."

At the sound of Hema's voice Katara's head swiveled around until her blue eyes met Hema's mischief filled gray ones.

"We weren't groaning because you're here Hema. We were groaning because," Katara searched desperately for a plausible excuse, but came up blank. Thankfully, as always, Zuko came to her rescue.

"I think what Katara was trying to say, was that we were just so...sad that this delectable meal is ending that we had to show our..._displeasure_ somehow." Zuko said as he turned to Katara, "Right Katara?"

"That's exactly it Zuko! Thank you for putting it so eloquently." Katara agreed, while internally rolling her eyes. _Zuko, _she thought, _always the smooth talker_.

Hema snorted not even bothering to hide her disbelief of the Firelord's blatant lie, but since he _was _her employer she played along. "Well if you're still hungry I could always go and whip up something else, but what to cook?" Hema rubbed her chin as if in deep thought, "I know!" she declared loudly, startling Katara, "We just got in a twenty pound turkey that I've been just dying to cook up. In fact, I'll go work on it right now!"

"**NO!**"

The cry of anguish that came out of the two diner's mouths shocked not only themselves but Hema too, who came to a screeching halt.

"No? Why ever not?" The conniving chef asked, batting her eyes trying to seem innocent- a disturbing sight, if you asked Katara.

Hema knew the truth, and she also knew that Katara knew that she knew. There was only one way to get out this situation without having to eat the entire contents of the kitchen, and Katara was not excited about it.

"Hema," she started, "everyone knows you're an amazing cook! The best cook the Fire Palace has ever seen, but," There was always a but, "we have been eating everything you've set in front of us for the past two hours, and in all honesty I'm very close to exploding, and I know Zuko feels the same way. Right Zuko?"

Startled to have the spotlight shifted to him so suddenly it took him a moment to compose himself. "I have to agree with her on this one," The firebender said sending a glare in Katara's direction, who just smiled sweetly at him, "the food was fabulous, but we have to stop."

"So what your saying, is that you didn't appreciate the third and fourth helpings I sent up for you to eat? Even though you showed up nearly _thirty minutes late _which gave me the time to cook so much extra food?"

Katara looked down at her hands and nodded meekly, and out of the corner of her eye she saw Zuko do the same.

"Well," Hema said crossing her arms and giving them a sharp look, "maybe next time you'll actually arrive to dinner on time instead of making kissy faces at each other in the gardens."

Katara gaped at the woman as a blush began to color her cheeks. She was most certainly _not _making kissy faces at Zuko in the gardens! That was completely ridiculous! He was her best guy friend! He was the Firelord, so even if they did get together it couldn't possibly work out! Also she had Aang! Even if she didn't feel particularly romantic towards him anymore she wouldn't cheat on him. Sure Zuko was kind, and smart, and handsome, and charming, and lately, it seemed, whenever he looked at her she got butterflies, but it was still a completely ridiculous notion to think that she would make _kissy _faces at him, or that he would make them back.

Wasn't it?

Zuko's voice interrupted her thoughts, "What on Earth are you talking about Hema?" Asked the flustered, red faced firebender. "Katara and I were most certainly not making kissy faces at each other! We're just friends."

A feeling that greatly resembled disappointment settled in Katara's chest at Zuko's words, but she shook it off. What reason did she have to be disappointed? It's not like she had feelings for Zuko. He was temperamental and hardheaded and he was not her type at all! But then again...

_No, _she told herself, _no buts. You have a boyfriend and like he said, you're just friends. _

Hema raised a gray eyebrow skeptically, and for a moment it looked like she was going to say something, but at the last moment she decided against it and instead made a low _tsking _noise. "Mmmm Hmmmm, Whatever you say your Highness. Now will you both get out of here so I can actually get some work done around this place?"

Katara and Zuko both laughed at the familiar comment, the discomfort and awkwardness from a moment ago forgotten.

Pushing away from the table they made their way to the door side by side. "Goodnight Hema! See you in the morning." Katara called over her shoulder receiving only a halfhearted wave and a comment about how it would be closer to afternoon.

After closing the large ornate doors behind them, Zuko turned to face Katara. "So," he said running a hand through his thick black hair that reflected the light coming from the lanterns lining the hallway, "what do you want to do now that we're free from the torture chamber?"

"Well considering its probably about 9:30 by now and it will take at _least _five minutes to get to my room if I don't get lost, I'm going to say...sleep."

Zuko did his half grin thing that softened the sharp, chiseled lines of his face, "I'll walk you there. Wouldn't want the princess to get lost now would we?"

"Don't make fun of me," Katara scolded playfully as they headed towards the west wing where her room was located, "it is extremely easy to get lost in a place this size. I mean honestly does anybody really _need _this much room?" She questioned emphasizing her point by make a wide sweeping gesture.

"Well there was that one Firelord who had thirteen children with his wife. I'm sure they really appreciated all the room, especially when the kids went through the moody teenager phase."

"I have no idea what you're talking about. _I, _for one, never went through that phase." Katara said trying to keep a straight face.

Zuko let out a very improper snort, "Uh huh, sure. Neither did I."

Katara and Zuko's eyes met, and next thing they knew they were both laughing. Katara's laugh was light, musical, and girly while Zuko's was deep, strong, rumbling, and very pleasant to listen to (not that she noticed).

"I swear," Katara said once her laughter died down to the occasional snicker, "you had to be one of the most moody teenagers I've ever met."

Zuko rolled his eyes, "I have to disagree on that one. I'm pretty sure you beat me in the moody teenager competition."

"Oh really? What makes you that? Please enlighten me."

"How many times did you freeze me, and several other people, to walls? Plus you cried... a lot. It was actually rather frightening at the time."

If this statement had come from anyone else Katara would probably have been offended and would have ended up smacking them with a water whip, but she could see the humor in Zuko's golden eyes and she knew he meant no harm by his comment. "First off, I only did it when someone deserved it! Plus you could always melt the ice, so really there was no harm done. Second, that's called being emotional, not moody." Katara corrected him, "It's part of being a teenage girl."

"Toph was never like that." Zuko countered.

"Toph was also not a normal teenage girl. She still isn't, but you gotta love her." Katara said, a smile coming to her face as she thought of all the fond (and some not so fond) memories she had made with the blind earthbender who she'd come to think of as a sister. "So really I was a perfectly normal." Zuko scoffed at this, but she choose to be the bigger person and ignore it, "You on the other hand. I can't even begin to think about how many trees, bushes, tents, curtains, pieces of paper, and articles of clothing you've set on fire during one of your episodes."

"Episodes?"

"Would you rather I call them tantrums?"

"No thank you."

"Then don't complain or else I'll get emotional and freeze you to the wall again." She said nudging him in the ribs (since it was the only part she could reach without having to stretch).

"Alright you win!" Zuko said raising his arms in surrender, "I'll admit I was pretty moody. Thankfully I grew out of it. You on the other hand." He said shaking his head sadly.

Katara whacked Zuko in the arm causing him to wince. If Toph had taught her one thing it was how to land a punch, "Jerk."

"You wouldn't have me any other way."

Katara rolled her blue eyes but didn't reply because it was true. She loved Zuko just the way he was. After that they fell into a comfortable silence, and Katara was thankful that she had the kind of friendship with Zuko that allowed her to feel like it was okay to just be quiet and enjoy one another's company.

As they walked, slowly but steadily, the pair inched closer and closer to each other until

their hands were swinging side by side. Katara was painfully aware of this closeness, and she began to wonder what it would be like to simply reach over and take Zuko's large hand. Now Katara may not have been as experienced in the department of men as people like Suki and Ty Lee but she wasn't completely naive.

There had been Danku when she was eight. He was Sokka's age and had given her his last sea prune when he had come over for dinner one night, and after that he had quickly become the object of her childish adoration for the next three years. Next came Jet her first real "love". Infatuation was more like it. He may have ended up being a psychopath, but when she'd first met him he was so charming, and passionate, and handsome. Plus he _had _saved her from that group of Fire Nation soldiers. That was probably the reason she let him have her first kiss (she was always a sucker for all that Knight in Shining Armor stuff), and that was also the reason she had felt so betrayed after the group found out he was simply using them for his own crazy plans. Katara knew it was horrible- considering how he died- but she still got a little satisfaction at the memory of Jet frozen to a tree. Then there was Haru. They flirted and he had made it pretty clear that he was interested, but she was still heartbroken over Jet and had sworn off guys for forever (HA! Yeah right) so nothing came out of it. The next time she saw him he had grown out that horrible mustache of his and any remaining feelings she had towards him dissolved. Vain, she knew, but that mustache was a monstrosity. Through all of her romantic mishaps she knew that Aang had a crush on her, but she never thought of him as anything but a little brother till the end of the war when she finally decided to give him a chance.

Katara had told Suki, Toph (who didn't really have any interest in all that as she put it, "Lovey-dovey-make-me-wanna-vomit-crap"), and, after the war, Ty Lee who had surprisingly become one of her good friends, but there was one guy she never told anyone she had feelings for. Hell, she hardly admitted the feelings to herself, and he was standing right next to her. Yes, she had feelings for Zuko. Ever since he "saved" her from the Pirates she had this weird fixation with the banished Fire Nation Prince. It wasn't love, or infatuation, or even a crush, Katara didn't even know if there was a word to describe what it was. All she knew was that he was fascinating, and even when he was trying to hunt them down she felt a connection to him, and when she was thrown into that catacomb with him in Ba Sing Se, that was when she really fell for him. That was why his betrayal hurt so much. Not just because she trusted him, but because she liked him. Always had, and she was beginning to think that even to this day she still did. But Katara couldn't tell anyone. Like she said, she could hardly admit it to herself.

Yet here she was walking next to her previous enemy, turned ally, turned betrayer, turned ally again, and finally turned friend and confidant, but through it all- even her current relationship with Aang- he was still the object of her fantasies.

Now can you see why it's just easier for Katara to ignore her feelings?

Because when she started to admit the truth, thoughts like the ones she was currently having started running through her mind. Katara wondered what it would be like to hold Zuko's hand. Would it be rough and dry like Jet's hand been, or smooth and soft like Aang's? Would he intertwine his fingers intimately through Katara's own or simply grasp it much like some guy Xana had tried to set her up with had. So many questions, and it would be so easy to answer them. All she had to do was move her and a couple of inches to the right. Now a couple of centimeters. Almost there...

"Here we are."

Startled out of her thoughts by Zuko's deep voice Katara snapped her hand back to her side and jumped back.

"Are you okay?"Zuko asked curiously as a bright scarlet blush colored Katara's entire face. "You seem jumpy."

_Am I okay? _Katara thought incredulously, _I'm over her having thoughts about you that I really shouldn't be having since I have, you know, a BOYFRIEND and you ask me if I'm okay? Of course I'm not okay! Especially when you look at me with those gorgeous eyes, man I just want to...look away Katara. LOOK AWAY! _Katara tore her eyes away from Zuko's burning ones filled with worry. "I'm fine." Katara squeaked out, "You just startled me, plus I'm really tired so I should probably go to bed now. Well goodnight Zuko!" Without waiting for a response she flung open her bedroom door and all but slammed it behind her in the rush to get in before she did something she knew she would regret later.

The flustered waterbender leaned up against the door until she heard the retreating steps of the Firelord, and she let out a breath that she didn't even know she was holding. That was a close call, if she had waited just a few more seconds Katara was pretty sure she would have kissed him, but Katara was going to make sure it never happened again. She couldn't afford to have it happen again.

Quickly, Katara slipped out of the blue dress she was wearing- which she dumped into the dirty clothes hamper since it had several grass stains on it- replacing it with her favorite blue, silk pajamas that were a gift from Ursa. Finally- after performing a few necessary tasks while attempting to banish all romantic thoughts about Zuko from her head- Katara slipped beneath the warm bedsheets and comforter, allowing her to relax and sink into the soft mattress. Taking a deep breath she closed her eyes and fell into a peaceful slumber, in which she dreamed of fire, ice and golden eyed knights in shining armor.

0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0

Katara woke a few hours later to the sound of the rain pounding on the roof of the Palace.

A sleepy smile spread onto her face. Katara had always loved the rain, even as a child she would look forward to the rare occasions it warmed up enough to allow rain to fall instead of snow.

The waterbender let out a sigh of contentment, and snuggled back down into the warmth of her bed; ready to be lulled back to sleep by the steady beat of her element. Just as Katara closed her eyes, a deafening crash of thunder reverberated through the halls of the Fire Palace, followed by a bright flash of lightening that somehow managed to illuminate Katara's entire room.

Katara was up and out of bed in less than a second, trembling in fear.

Katara hadn't always been afraid of thunderstorms. In fact, when she traveled around the world with Aang she became quite found of them. She would always tell the younger members of their group that the spirits were having a four-way element battle. The rain came from the waterbender; the thunder, from the crashing of the mighty earthbender's rocks; the wind, from the airbender propelling himself through the sky, and the lighting...Katara told the youngsters that it came from the greatest firebender in the entire spirit world. Like she said, she used to be fond of them, sometimes they were even soothing, but ever since Azula had shot that lightening bolt her direction, Katara developed an intense fear of the powerful storms.

Katara knew it was stupid to be afraid of storms because of that, and she had hoped that eventually the fear would fade away, but it hadn't. Whenever she saw a flash of lightening the image of Azula's cold, maniacal smile would creep into her mind, quickly followed by the image of Zuko laying seemingly lifeless at her feet. It was one of those memories that no matter how hard she tried to forget about it and move on it always had a way of finding its way back in.

Katara knew from experience that there was no way she would be able to go back to sleep until the storm hand passed, so, with a defeated sigh, the waterbender wrapped her bare shoulders in a blanket and, as quietly as possible, slipped out of her bedroom and into the hallway.

**Author's Note: **

Okay, this is double what I normally write, so if you managed to stick with it through the entire thing without getting bored and falling asleep, thank you. Thank you to everyone who reviewed, I read every single one of them, and they just make me happy!

Loved it? Great! Review.

Hated it? I'd like to know why, review!


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Avatar, but if I did...well...you know. ;)

Chapter 8: A Cup of Warm Tea to Calm the Restless Mind 

Zuko had never really appreciated Iroh as a teenager.

The hot-headed boy couldn't understand how his uncle was always so calm about _everything._ Whether they were discussing Iroh's Pai Sho match, military tactics, Zuko's latest harebrained, ill thought out plan for capturing the Avatar, their status as traitors of the Fire Nation, or the benefits of tea, it didn't matter. Iroh always maintained a placid demeanor, and, when he was younger, it drove Zuko _crazy!_ He simply couldn't comprehend how someone could be spouting off these seemingly random quotes about destiny, the spirits, the four elements, and _tea _when there was a war going on, or why Iroh was constantly trying to get Zuko to focus on other things besides finding the Avatar! The pair were constantly butting heads (well _Zuko _was butting, like he said Iroh didn't get upset) over the smallest things, and this lead to Zuko- on more than one occasion- having to go his own way and, as Iroh put it, "Find his own destiny", but as Zuko got older something amazing happened.

The ornery, pig-headed adolescent became a truly upstanding young man, and as he matured, Zuko began to appreciate Iroh for who he was; a man worthy of any praise and admiration you sent his way.

Looking back on it now, Zuko realized, that Iroh wasn't just an uncle to him, he was a mentor, caretaker, firebending teacher, adviser, and confidant. Iroh was the tolerant and even-keeled foil to Zuko's impulsiveness. He tempered Zuko's anger with a wry sense of humor and practical (albeit, not always welcome) advice. Iroh became the father Zuko had never had, and Zuko became the son that Iroh had lost.

In the months after his coronation, Iroh was the one Zuko always went to for advice. Many were the hours that Zuko and his uncle would simply sit together in the dining room discussing everything from how to improve a firebending technique to the meaning of life. This time he spent bonding with Iroh became a vital part of Zuko's day, so when the time came that his uncle announced he was going to be heading back to the Earth Kingdom and his tea shop, Zuko was distraught.

How was he supposed to be the Firelord? He was only eighteen for Pete's sake! He could barely talk to girls he liked, and here his uncle was, expecting him to run a nation! What if he messed it up? What if he made a bad deal with the Earth Kingdom, and no one was there to stop him? What if he accidentally insulted a wife of one of the noblemen and launched a civil war? So many things could go wrong! His uncle couldn't just _abandon_ him like this, but that wasn't even the worst part. Oh no! When Zuko voiced these concerns to Iroh he had the audacity to _laugh_ at him!

Once Iroh's laughter had faded away to only the occasional chuckle (honestly Zuko hadn't seen what was so funny! These were legitimate concerns), he assured Zuko that he would not be alone, and that he would write him at _least _once a week with any advice he thought would be needed. At first Zuko was skeptical of his uncle's promise. It wasn't that he didn't _believe _Iroh, it was just...life tended to get in the way of little mundane things like letter writing. Zuko knew this better than anyone, but- much to Zuko's astonishment- Iroh kept his word, the letters came every week like clockwork, with the exception of the weeks Zuko's uncle was in the Fire Nation himself.

True to his word Iroh always enclosed a little tidbit of wisdom at the beginning of every letter. Sometimes the message was exactly what Zuko needed to hear, and others it was so far off base it wasn't even funny. When the young firebender informed his uncle of this, Iroh wrote (in all capitalized letters, and several smudges from where he broke the pen) that, that wasn't the _point, _and the point was that even though Zuko might not need the information _now_ there would come a time when he did.

Tonight, that time had come.

After walking Katara to her room earlier that evening, Zuko had decided to take refuge in his bed chambers. He had hoped that sleep would provide an escape from his rampant thoughts, and he tried to get to sleep, he really did, but every time he got close to drifting off the image of Katara's beautiful face, lit by the light from a nearby lantern, would enter his mind, and he would be wide awake again. Finally, after countless different positions, multiple pillow flippings, the occasional set of one hundred jumping jacks, and many hours of just staring at the ceiling in the dark, Zuko realized that sleep was not on the agenda tonight. It was then that he remembered one of his uncle's little "tidbits".

_Nothing like a cup of warm tea to calm the restless mind._

Ordinarily, Zuko ignored any tea related advice given by Iroh, but he was willing to make an exception if it meant he could get some sleep, and stop thinking about how the light had reflected in Katara's blue eyes and cast a shadow over her perfect lips. See! There he went again! That girl was doing crazy things to him and she didn't even know it.

With a resigned groan Zuko drug himself away from the unbelievably comfortable bed. After pulling on a pair of shoes and slipping a blood-red robe to cover his bare torso Zuko strode across his room, and stepped out into the pitch black hallway.

_Of course, _Zuko thought, coming to a halt just outside of his door, _tonight of all nights the guards forgot to light the lanterns._ With an irritated sight,the young firebender closed his eyes, took in a deep breath through his nose like he was taught, and focused all of his energy to one central location. Almost instantaneously, he felt the tingling sensation in his right hand that let him know he was firebending. Zuko opened his golden eyes, a small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth, as he studied the bright orange flame that danced in the palm of his hand. _There, _he thought_, much better. _With his own small fire to light the way, Zuko quickly made his way through the deserted hallways of the Fire Palace.

Sometime later- due to the fact that his room was one of the outermost places in the palace- Zuko finally arrived at the dark, vacant kitchens. With a quick flick of his wrist the previously tranquil flame shot out in multiple different directions, igniting the lanterns that hung from the wall, bathing the room in a soft, yellow light.

With the efficiency of someone who'd been brewing tea for many years- which he had, after all he _was _the one whotraveled with Iroh, King of All Things Tea- Zuko went about the kitchen pulling out, chopping, and mixing all the necessary ingredients until he had a nice pot of Ginseng brewing on one of the smaller stoves. After carefully returning all of the ingredients he had used back to their original places, and rinsing off the various bowls and chopping boards he was left with a good deal of time until the tea would be done.

With all the cleaning finished, and nothing else too do until his tea was done, Zuko made his way over to the set of bar-stools that lined an island situated in the very center of the cavernous room. Wincing slightly from the soreness that lingered in his muscles from his training session earlier that day, the Firelord eased himself onto one of the sturdy seats, and, for the first time that day, allowed his mind to wander.

Oddly enough Zuko's gaze drifted from his rough, scarred hands to the only window in the room, nestled in an alcove just above the sink. The reason was quickly made obvious as a loud rumbling reverberated throughout the palace, and the steady rain that had been falling since earlier that evening picked up and began pounding incessantly on the glass panes of the window.

A grin made its was onto the young firebender's face as he realized that this wasn't just a storm. _This _was a _thunder_storm!

Because of the extremely warm climate, volatile weather- especially thunderstorms- were a common occurrence in the Fire Nation, so from a young age Zuko had learned to tolerate them. Yet somehow, over the years, that mere tolerance of the powerful storms grew into a genuine fondness. He loved everything about the ferocious disturbances; the pelting sound of hail, the frigid rain, and the roar of the dark clouds...the whole bit. It soothed him. In Zuko's opinion, it was just nice knowing that even though the sky was raging outside, he was nice, safe, and warm inside. Suddenly, a bolt of lighting shot through the air with a crackle, a bright arc of blue lighting up its surroundings brilliantly for a split second, and just as quickly it disappeared.

Plus, the lighting looked pretty cool.

In quick succession, another flash of lighting lit up the sky, and as it faded Zuko was reminded of someone he'd rather forget. His sister. Azula.

Of their own accord, Zuko's hands moved from their relaxed position on the table, and began rubbing at his temples.

After Azula's mental breakdown at the end of the war Zuko was left with a big decision about what to do with her. He figured he had two options, he could either: A) Put her in a prison cell to rot for the rest of her days (Sokka was scarily fond of this idea), or he could, B) Find a home for the terminally insane that was willing to take in the psychopathic, master firebending, ex-princess of the Fire Nation. In the end- after much convincing from Iroh and Aang- he decided that as much as he'd _love _to see Azula suffer, he would do what was best for his baby sister and put her in a home.

This proved to be easier said than done.

Word of Azula's mental instability had spread throughout the entire nation faster than wildfire, and, it turned out, that even asylums had a limit to how much crazy they would let in. Finally, after several months of desperate searching, Zuko found a home on the outskirts of the nation that would take her in, they just had one condition. A very _large _condition. Aang would have to take Azula's firebending away.

Well you can imagine how well this went over with Aang. The airbender protested for weeks on end, declaring that there must be some other- less extreme- way to deal with this, but after Azula burned a pair of servants who were sent in to bring her food Aang finally conceded to the fact that this was the only logical option. The days that followed were not times that Zuko liked to think about. To say the least, they involved much screaming, fighting, and crying from all parties involved, but in the end what needed to be done was done, and there was no need to dwell on it. His sister was no longer a firebender.

In the three years that followed he had received monthly updates from the physicians who were caring for Azula, and all the reports declared that her sanity would never fully return, but that she was making remarkable progress.

In those three years Zuko had only been to visit his sister once. It was a couple of months after her admittance to the home and approximately ten minutes into his visit his sister threw a tea pot at him (she missed, thankfully Azula had never had the greatest aim) and declared that he was a coward and a traitor, and she never wanted to see him again. Zuko for the most part had complied with her wishes and stayed out of her life, but a few weeks ago he finally worked up enough courage to go and see his sister again.

Now he wish he hadn't.

Because the previous image he had of his sister- tea pot in hand, hair matted and wild, and gold eyes wide with insanity- was replaced with a new one, and this one terrified him more than you can ever imagine. Azula had always been maniacal, and demented even as a child, but now...now his sister wasn't crazy, she was empty. During his entire visit Zuko was the only one who spoke, Azula simply stared out the window the whole time and barely acknowledged his presence. After several hours of meaningless chatter Zuko finally gave up and decided it was best if he left, but just as he was about to go Azula did something that shocked him...she met his eyes. Her eyes held no hint of emotion. No resentment, no hatred, nothing.

His baby sister who had been so driven, and intent on taking over the world had been reduced to a shell of a person, and it was his fault, and no matter how hard he tried the feeling of guilt would not leave him.

Zuko didn't believe it ever would.

He was just about to have a large pity party for himself when the sound of footsteps coming down the passageway leading to the kitchen pulled him from his thoughts.

The only one who would possibly be coming to the kitchen at this time of night was Hema, and she didn't like people sitting- much less making tea- in her kitchen without her present. Just the thought of what the woman might do if she caught him here was enough to strike fear into the Firelord's heart. Zuko sprung into action. He hopped off of the stool, extinguished the flames, and he had just managed to tuck himself away into one of the farthest- and most well hidden- corners when he heard tell-tale groan of the heavy wooden door being slowly pushed open.

Much to his surprise- following the agonizingly slow opening of the door- Zuko didn't hear the heavy clomping of Hema's old work boots, instead the sound of bare feet ghosting across the tile met his ears. _Well that's certainly not Hema, _Zuko thought with relief, that instantly turned to confusion.

If it wasn't the cook coming back by to finish up any last minute preparations for tomorrow's breakfast, who was it?

Slowly- so as not alert the intruder to his presence- Zuko peered out from around his corner. When the firebender's golden eyes settled on the little late night visitor, he was surprised to discover Katara, wrapped in a thick black blanket, but almost immediately the surprise wore off and a mischievous grin made its appearance on his scarred face.

The last time Zuko had come to visit the South Pole, Katara had thought it would be funny to start a scaring war with him. So for the next three weeks, Zuko was constantly having to peer around corners, and check every space, large enough to house a small person, to insure that the wily waterbender wasn't about pop out and scare the living daylights out of him. Naturally, by the end of his visit Zuko had developed a severe case of paranoia, and had endured seemingly endless teasing from Toph about his (as she put it), "Chick scream". Katara claimed that she won because Zuko was too predictable with his hiding places. Zuko disagreed and said that Katara knew where all the good hiding spots were because she lived there and that gave her an unfair advantage, so in the end they had to get an unbiased third party (a.k.a Suki) to decide the winner. After much deliberation (not), the Kyoshi warrior-much to Zuko's dismay- declared Katara the winner. That was nearly a year ago, and to this day Zuko still argues that the only reason she won was because he didn't know the South Pole layout, and Katara still claims she won because Zuko simply sucks at scaring people. Well he was about to prove her wrong, because Katara was in _his_ territory now, and this opportunity was just to perfect to pass up.

Moving with stealthiness that can only be acquired through years of sneaking about, Zuko emerged from his hiding spot. Making sure to stay concealed in the shadows cast by the various cupboards and pantries, he began to edge his way along the boundaries of the kitchen. After a couple of close calls- which where effectively evaded due to his mad, ninja-like skills (although it may have had something to do with the lack of light in the room)- Zuko managed to position himself behind Katara.

Now, all he had to do was wait for the perfect time to strike.

Oblivious to the fact that she was being stalked, Katara had made her way into the pitch black kitchen. Since she couldn't see, the waterbender extended one of her tan arms out and she began to swing her arms about in the hopes that she could find a solid surface to hang on to until her eyes adjusted to the darkness.

In Zuko's opinion the sight of his friend wild haired, and groping about in the dark was incredibly amusing, and it was all he could do to hold back his chuckles.

Finally, after several stubbed toes and mumbled curse words that would send Sokka into shock, but only managed to fuel Zuko's growing amusement, Katara managed to get a hold of the counter where Zuko had previously been seated. Strangely enough, somehow, in the process of pulling out one of the stools to sit on, Katara managed to knock a bowl of fruit off of the island, and onto the floor. The bowl clattered to to the floor, causing the blue eyed girl to jump about a foot in the air and let out a little yelp of surprise.

Katara looked around guiltily, as if expecting someone to come out and scold her for her clumsiness, before she remembered that she was the only (at least to her knowledge) in the kitchen. Bending down, she began gathering up all the, now bruised, fruit, but on the way down she unknowingly kicked one of the several apples with her foot. The crafty little piece of produce decided to make a break for it, and he would have gotten away too if Zuko's foot hadn't been there to stop its rolling. With a inaudible chuckle, the firebender bent down, and snagged the apple before it could hatch another daring escape plan.

Quietly, Zuko emerged from the shadows and made his way closer, and closer, until he was poised a mere few inches from Katara's back.

After she finished collecting all of the escaped fruit and putting them back in their place, Katara gingerly set the bowl back on the table. With a smirk, Zuko closed the gap between them, and placed his mouth right by her ear.

As he tried not to think about how her hair, that was loose from its typical braid, tickled his cheek, and how delicious she smelled, he whispered in her ear, "I do believe you forgot an apple."

Katara let out an ear splitting scream. Her hands flew up and she jumped about a foot in the air, but the expression of absolute shock, and pure terror on her face was priceless.

In Zuko's experience, there are four main types of laughter-real laughter at least. First, is the "that was funny so I'm going chuckle a little bit". Second, is the short- and often really loud- burst of laughter that you then follow up with a cough to hide you embarrassment. Third, is the laughing for a minute, or so, with the occasional snort thrown in there; this laughter most often occurs in the presence of a group of friends. Fourth, last but not least, the whopper, is the "I'mlaughingsohardIcan''". This was the kind of laughter Zuko was experiencing.

Zuko was bent over double, clutching his stomach as he laughed loudly and uncontrollably, as Katara stood above him glaring.

"Oh, so you thought that was funny did you Zuko?" She asked her eyes as cold as ice.

Zuko wiped at the tear that had escaped his eyes, "Most...definitely!" he managed to get out between bursts of laughter. "You...should have...seen...your..._FACE!"_

The waterbender let out and indignant huff, and crossed her her arms angrily, "Well _I _didn't find it funny at all, _Firelord _Zuko," she growled, "and I'd appreciate it if you'd stop laughing long enough to light the lanterns like any half-way sensible person would."

Zuko straightened himself, sputtering like an old water faucet as he tried to contain his amusement. Finally, after several attempts to stop laughing and continuous glaring from Katara, Zuko managed to compose himself just enough, so that he was able to send off flames from his fingertips to light the lanterns, but as soon as that task was done he was back to trying to barely contain his chuckles; Katara glaring daggers at him.

After several minutes, the temperamental waterbender finally got fed up with Zuko's amusement. "Stop laughing already!" She snapped.

Recognizing the tone of voice Katara only used when she was very close to smacking you upside the head, Zuko immediately sobered up.

Katara must have been satisfied that the firebender had collected himself, for the she immediately began to lay into him. "Honestly Zuko! We aren't children anymore!" She scolded, "I would expect this kind of behavior from Aang or Toph, but _you! _The Firelord, and _leader _of one of the most powerful nations in the world!" Katara made a noise of disapproval in the back of her throat, her eyes narrowing even more (Zuko wondered how she could possibly see), as she continued her rant, "I just figured you were more _mature _than this. What if it hadn't been me who came through the door! What if it had been one of the poor little elderly servants, and when you scared them they had a heart-attack and keeled over right then? How would you feel then?" Zuko figured this was a rhetorical question, since Katara didn't give him time to answer before she was off again. "Horrible! THAT'S how you would feel, and rightly so! Can you just imagine what kind of controversy that would stir up! I can just see the headlines now. _Firelord Zuko, Murderer! Is He the One You Want-_" Midway through her sentence Katara just stopped- a relief to Zuko's poor abused ears- as if she just remembered something vitally important, and she turned to look at Zuko again, a question in her bottomless blue eyes. "Hey, why are you up this late anyway?"

"I should be asking you the same question." He countered.

"I asked you first."

"I asked you second."

"Doesn't matter! Remember Iroh's rules are always in affect, so HA!"

_Crap, _Zuko thought. She had him on that one.

A couple of years ago Zuko and Katara both happened to be staying with Iroh the same week, and during their time there they were constantly getting into these kinds of arguments. The pair's constant bickering got to the point where even calm, cool, and collected Iroh got fed up with it, so he devised a several page document called **The Rules of Arguing**, and one of the very first rules he had come up with was this: "Whoever is asked the first question is obligated to answer, but if said person refuses to answer the question they are not allowed to counter with another question, and must drop the argument."

Neither Zuko or Katara were crazy about these rules. In fact, they absolutely hated them- unless the rule helped them win, of course- but even they had to admit that these rules had kept them from ripping one another's throats out in a element battle on more than one occasion.

"I just couldn't sleep, I have a lot on my mind right now." _Like you, _Zuko added in his head. Out of the corner of his good eye, Zuko saw Katara begin to open her mouth. He was sure that she was about to ask a question he wasn't prepared to answer, so he quickly cut her off. "Alright, I answered it's your turn now. Why are you up so late?"

Much to the firebender's surprise, and confusion, a bright red blush colored Katara's cheeks. "I just couldn't sleep. I mean...ummm...you know...and the palace at night is so...um...well you know. Plus the rain is..." Katara made, what was probably supposed to be, a nonchalant sweeping gesture with her hand towards the window, but ended up looking more like a muscle spasm to Zuko...the eye twitch may have had something to do with it too though, "so yeah, that's why I'm here now. In the kitchen. With you."

Katara had always been very good at expressing her feelings and opinions. It didn't matter whether she was lecturing the Gaang (one of her favorite hobbies if the number of times she did it a day was any indication), calming a room of bigoted, pertinacious councilmen, or letting you have a piece of her mind- something Zuko had experienced a countless number of times-, so the sight of the normally outspoken waterbender fiddling with the ends of her dark brown hair awkwardly was a strange.

Teasing Katara he could handle. Angry Katara, he could handle. On a good day he could even handle _emotional _Katara, but awkward Katara? This was new to him. He knew there was more to her story than all the "I mean", "you know", and "ummms", but Zuko could tell see that Katara obviously didn't think he was privy to this information. That was okay, though, she might not want him to know about whatever it was that was bothering her, but he had ways of making her talk.

The cracking of his knuckles echoed ominously throughout the kitchen, but it was quickly followed (and put to shame) by an even more menacing rumble of thunder.

Katara's eyes flickered from where she was staring at their bare feet, a mere foot apart, to the rain battered window, but just as quickly her gaze returned to the ground. If you had blinked you would've missed it, considering it was there for barely a second, but somehow Zuko saw it, and it all clicked into place.

"Katara," Zuko asked trying to keep the disbelief out of his voice, so he wouldn't offend the waterbender and send her into an indignant rampage which would- more likely than not- earn Zuko a rather large bruise, "are you afraid of thunderstorms?"

Katara's blue eyes grew wide and she began to sputter irately, "Don't be ridiculously!" She snapped defensively, the redness returning to her face, but this time in anger. "Water is my element after all, and thunderstorms are just water and a bunch of loud noises." Katara crossed her blanket covered arms, and looked towards the window again. "I'm not afraid."

Zuko didn't buy it for a minute. "It's okay to be scared. You don't have to be brave all the time you know." He started to reach out to give her a comforting pat on the arm, but when Katara's blue eyes filled with a sea of different emotions met his gold ones he dropped his arm back at his side thinking better of it. "You don't have to pretend around me."

"I'm not pretending." Katara said, and judging by her tone of voice Zuko wasn't sure if she was trying to convince him or herself. "Really, I'm not afraid of thunderst-"

The rest of her sentence was cut off by a deafening crack of thunder accompanied by a flash of blue lighting, so close and bright that it managed to illuminate the kitchen, despite the lanterns, and charge the air with a current of electricity that made the hairs on the back of Zuko's neck stand up.

Zuko saw Katara jump about a foot in the air as her eyes went wide, and immediately fill with a pure, unadulterated fear. A scream of terror escaped her lips, and before he could process his actions, Zuko reached out and pulled Katara tightly against his chest. The petrified waterbender buried her face in his chest, clinging to him tightly as sob after sob wracked her delicate body. When her tears began to soak through his shirt, Zuko realized something that he should have thought about to begin with.

He had no idea how to comfort a crying girl.

He had never had much experience with girls, much less ones who cried. Sure he had a sister but he was pretty sure that Azula was born without tear ducts. Then came Mai. She might have been his girlfriend and fiance, but one of the reasons he had been attracted to Mai to begin with was because of her emotionless exterior (sure, this trait of hers ended up being one of the reasons for their breakup, but that's beside the point), and he was pretty sure the only time he had ever seen Mai shed a tear was when her little brother Tom-Tom had started playing with her knives and ended up embedding one in her arm. The only other female he'd had much interaction with was Ty Lee, and sure she was emotional, but her emotions got scary sometimes, so from an early age he had made it a point to stay _away _from her.

As you can see, he was completely unprepared to deal with crying a crying girl, much less a crying girl who he was extremely attracted to, that also happened to be his best friend, and the girlfriend of the Avatar who was _also _one of his friends. Yeah, no amount of training could of prepared him for this one.

So in the end he followed his instincts.

Slowly, he began to run his fingers comfortingly through Katara's thick, silky hair over and over again. This obviously was the right thing to do since Katara's sobbing receded just slightly to a manageable crying. Zuko let out a sigh of relief, and then as if of its own accord the arm he still had wrapped around Katara's trim waist pulled her even tighter against his chest. If the Firelord hadn't noticed how Katara's thin silk pajamas hugged, and accentuated every curve her body had to offer he sure did now. Zuko sucked in a deep breath as he tried to control his body's unwanted (well _awkward_ is more like it) reaction to this stunning girl. _Focus, Zuko. Think about something else, _anything _else! Think about Toph's smelly feet...Hema in a bikini...UNCLE BUTT NAKED IN THE STEAM ROOM! _Yup, that did the trick.

A quiet sigh of relief escaped Zuko's lips, but when he looked down at the girl crying into his chest he realized something. This might be one of the only times he could hold Katara this close without catching crap about it. After all, she was terrified, and he was simply comforting her. That was it, at least that's what he told himself. _I may think she's the most beautiful girl in the world, but right now I'm her friend and she needs me, _he thought, _to hell with being proper._ Without a second thought Zuko placed a light kiss on the top of her head, and buried his scarred face in her hair. He mumbled soothing nothings to her, as he began to sway back and forth with her, rocking her, as he inhaled the sent of vanilla and freshly cut fire lillies.

Long after the point where hugging turns into embracing, Katara's sobs faded away to only the occasional hiccup, and reluctantly Zuko let her go.

Katara sniffed and ran her hand through her hair self consciously, making Zuko wonder how it was possible for someone to still look so radiant even after sobbing their brains out.

"I'm really sorry about that Zuko," Katara said refusing to meet his eyes, "I don't know what came over me."

Zuko pressed his hair down farther over his scar, a nervous habit he had developed, and shrugged his shoulders, "It's really no big deal Tara. Everybody gets scared sometimes."

She still refused to meet his eyes, "I know, I really am fine with rain, it's just the lighting. It always reminds me of..." Katara didn't finish her sentence. She didn't have to.

Azula. The lighting reminded her of Azula, and the battle where he risked his life to save hers.

Zuko's hand found it's way to his chest where the scar matching the one on his face was located. "It reminds me of her too." Zuko cleared his throat as an awkward silence came between them, "You know, I still have nightmares about that night."

Katara's gaze finally lifted from the floor and met his, "You do?"

"Almost every night. They make it pretty difficult to sleep." Remembering these dreams made him shudder. The nightmare was exactly the same as the actual fight, except for one thing...he didn't make it to Katara in time. Over and over he had to relive that night, but instead of feeling the burning and tingling that came from getting hit by a lighting bolt,he had to watch Katara's body writhe in agony, and fall to the ground in a crumpled, lifeless heap because he couldn't get there in time. Zuko would rather endure the pain of a thousand lighting bolts being shot at his heart than have to see the image of Katara lit up by blue, electric light one more time.

"I'm sorry Zuko," Katara said, and she reached out to take his hand, "I feel like such a baby now. I only get flashbacks during thunderstorms, I can't imagine having them every night."

Zuko shrugged, as he tried to ignore the fluttering in his gut that ca,e from the sight of their intertwined fingers, "It's no big deal. Anyway it's not like you can do anything about it."

Zuko saw Katara start to gnaw on her lower lip before speaking, "What if I could?"

The firebender's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, "What do you mean?"

A bright red blush that colored all the way from her neck to her ears, aroused worry and curiosity in Zuko, "You see here's the thing. Whenever I have nightmares it always helps me if I sleep in a bed...with somebody else." Zuko's eyebrows shot up, and Katara got even redder, "Normally I would sleep with Toph or Suki or Sokka, I've even slept with Momo occasionally when there was no one else around, but I'd be willing to sleep with you tonight...if you want to of course!" She quickly added on in a panic, "You totally don't have to do anything you don't want. I just figured your presence can help keep me from getting scared of the storm and I can keep away the nightmares...what do you say?"

What did he say? Seriously. This girl who he's had feelings for, that also had a boyfriend was asking to share a bed with him and wanted to know what he had to say about it! "Okay, sounds fine to me."

A small smile made its way onto Katara's face as she squeezed his hand causing his stomach to lurch painfully. _Must be indigestion,_ he thought, as he smiled back, _good indigestion. _"Then let's go." She whispered.

After extinguishing the lanterns, so as not to leave any indication that they had spent the majority of their night in the kitchen, Zuko and Katara made their way hand in hand to the outermost corner of the palace where Zuko's room was located. Their path illuminated by the light of the small flame in Zuko's palm, neither saying a word.

The silence hung heavily between as they finally reached Zuko's lavishly decorated bedroom, not by his choice of course. Ursa, upon her arrival home, had hired an interior designer to redecorate the palace, no room had been safe, not even the Firelord's. At the time Zuko had been extremely peeved, especially when they brought in the bed that was big enough for fifteen people, but now he was thanking the spirits that he hadn't set the blasted thing on fire like Toph had suggested.

"Whoa," Katara said eying the bed in disbelief, "that is one big bed."

Zuko shrugged his shoulder and gave a small grin, "Like I've said before, my mother is an unstoppable force of nature. She's the one who picked it out."

Releasing Zuko's hand (which he was not happy about), Katara made her way over to the monstrous piece of furniture, and Zuko watched as she traced the delicate looking black and red weaving. "So which side of the bed do you normally sleep on?" She asked making sure not to look in Zuko's direction, "Right or left?"

"Normally I sleep on the right," Zuko said gesturing to the side of the bed where the covers had already been rumpled, "but I'll sleep on whichever side you don't."

"Well, I have a tendency to just sleep in the middle of the bed, but since this one is so big I'll be fine on the left side." Zuko responded with a nod.

He tried not to watch Katara as she shed the blanket she had been wrapped up in, but somehow his eyes were drawn to the sight of her tan, exposed shoulders. His smoldering gaze didn't leave them until they disappeared from view beneath the thick, cozy comforter. Now it was his turn. After a bit of stalling, Zuko gave up hope that Katara would quickly doze off leaving him to undress in peace, so he began fussing with the sash that held his robe closed, unable to untie it due to the fact that his hands were shaking too bad. Finally, after a couple of tries and several mumbled curses, Zuko finally had the thing unfastened, now all he had to do was take it off. Turning his back to Katara he shed his silk robe, and immediately Zuko felt Katara's eyes on him, causing a blush to find its way onto his cheeks.

The firebender discarded the robe on the nearby dresser, and moving quickly- so as not to allow Katara time to see the scar on his chest in addition to the one on his face- he pulled back the covers and slithered into the warmth of his bed. Zuko knew it was silly to try and hide the scar he had received protecting her from Azula's lighting bolt from Katara, after all, she had seen it before, heck, she was the one who _healed _it, but to Zuko there was a difference between seeing someone's scars to heal them and seeing someone's scars because you were sharing the same bed. The bed was just so...intimate, and one thing Zuko could not do was think intimate thoughts about Katara.

There was nearly ten feet separating the pair, but Zuko could just _feel_ the tension, and he was painfully aware of the girl in the same bed as him. The air felt as if it was electrically charged, and it brought chill bumps to his skin. Katara was right, he definitely wouldn't be having any nightmares tonight because at the rate things were going he was never going to get to sleep.

Katara's voice interrupted his thoughts, and broke the tension first, "Hey Zuko."

The disgruntled firebender sighed, "Yes Katara."

"I really like your bed."

"Thanks."

"...Hey Zuko."

"What is it Katara?"

He heard the waterbender sigh, and felt the mattress move as she fidgeted, "I just want to say, thanks for letting me sleep with you tonight. You have no idea how much it means to me."

"I do Katara," he whispered clutching the sheets tighter around him, "I really, really do."

**Author's Note **

Please, please, please, please don't hate me! I am so sorry about the lateness of this chapter! I made the fatal mistake of letting the story sit for about a week before going back to work on it, and by the time I finally did it was like pulling teeth. Every word seemed to weigh 500 pounds and the story just wasn't flowing like it was supposed to. I can honestly say I have worked for at least an hour a day every day for the last three weeks on this chapter, and after five different rewrites of this chapter I realized what I was doing wrong.

_I _was trying to write it. I was trying to force the characters into a situation that, frankly, they just didn't like, so as soon as I stopped trying to follow the plan and write it it began to write itself. The final draft your getting took me roughly 5 days to do, and I'm _so sorry _you had to wait for this chapter!

Thank you for all the reviews they are what kept me going and please write more! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I'm going to go ahead and tell you I've started on the next one and it's going to be...interesting ;).

Thanks for reviewing and favoriting, and not losing fate in the fact that the chapter would be up eventually!


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